I can’t describe how happy yet terrified I was at the same time when I got an email from my host mom. The moment I had been waiting for since my acceptance finally arrived, and I was about to make my first impression on the family that would be taking care of my for the rest of the summer. That’s pretty scary, but it was also a relief to know that these were real people that seemed to really be up to the task of dealing with me. My mom is an English queen and I’m really relived about that, and my dad is a small business owner. As an only child, I’m really looking forward to being a 형 for a bit. My little bro is 12 and plays soccer and video games.

So great, now I know a bit about who they are, but now the real question is, what do I get them? I decided to give them each an individual gift and one practical gift for all of them so here they are:

For my Mom: I got her a small necklace from Neiman Marcus, an iconic Dallas department store. It’s nothing too flashy because let’s be real, my family ain’t loaded with money, but I hope she likes it.

For my Dad: I got him bobblehead of the Texas Rangers outfielder, Shin Soo Choo. He’s a Korean player for my local baseball team, so I figured it would be symbolic of cross-cultural exchange. He can put it somewhere around the house or at his work if he wants.

For my Brother: I got an FC Dallas T-shirt because I hear he likes soccer. I really hope it fits, or he can at least grow into it.

For the whole family: Everyone needs to get groceries, so I got them a Texas themed bag from my local Trader Joes.

Overall, I know gifts aren’t the biggest deal, but I want to make a good impression on them. If you’re still deciding on last minute gifts, perhaps this may help a bit. If you already have them, I’d love to hear what everyone else came up with. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

In less than 10 days i’ll be spending the summer in Seoul with 49 other crackheads like me (that’s a joke, don’t do drugs kids). That’s still crazy to think about, and it only becomes real to me little by little. You may be wondering how I ended up with you lot, so here goes:

My name is Dominic Phillips, and I grew up in Plano, TX. If you know anything about my hometown, it’s probably that the city is filled to the brim with Asians. And by that I mean they’re everywhere. There are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian grocery stores all over the place; there are great restaurants from a variety of cuisines, and you can even find a 노래방 or two. All this exposure to other cultures got me interested in international travel. If there’s one thing I most enjoy doing in life, it’s going abroad. Additionally, I enjoy learning languages (why else would I be here?). My school school offers Chinese, so I take that, but wanted a chance to learn something new.

When I found out about NSLI-Y, it was a dream come true. I get to live with a host family in another country and learn the language, for free????? I went in tho the application with a “Why the hell not?” attitude because I didn’t think I had a real shot of getting in. In the beginning, I was torn between applying for Russian, Arabic, or Korean. In the end I settled on Korean for a few reasons: 1) South Korea is such a highly developed country with so much cool stuff going on. I live for the city life sometimes. I can’t wait to explore Seoul and check out all the cool things the place has to offer 2) Hangul is sooo cool from a linguistic standpoint and so much more convenient than Chinese. Imagine not having to memorize a different character for every word and tell the difference between 4 tones. 3) My dream job would be to work for the State Department, so if I know Chinese and Korean (and maybe i’ll try Russian later who knows), i’ll be set.

The whole process went in kind of a blur, from the essays to the interview. I was overjoyed to hear that I was a semifinalist, and nearly lost it when I got accepted. I got the email during school and everybody was so confused why I suddenly had a mental breakdown. It may sound cliche, but getting that acceptance was one of the happiest moments in my life. To make things better, I have found in my fellow finalists a group of fun, intelligent, and supportive people from all over the country. I couldn’t ask for a better group to spend the summer with, and I haven’t even met any of y’all! Here’s to having a great NSLI-Y experience and growing together as Korean speakers!